Upcoming Christmas Service and Live Nativity

Pastor Lorne Bonk welcoming everyone to the 2012 Christmas Service

This Sunday is our special Christmas Service where you have a chance to showcase your talent by presenting a Christmas song, poem, story, or whatever talent you've been blessed with.

Since we'll be presenting our Live Nativity on the day following our Christmas Service, we've worked out a schedule for these 2 special days.

Please feel free to join in wherever you can - wherever your heart leads you - and pray that hearts will be reached through our efforts. 

Sunday, Dec 22:

10 am - Special Christmas Service

11:30-12:00 - Bring a Lunch because we'll grab a quick bite of nourishment for the work ahead

1 pm approx - Head over to the Candiac Auction Mart for the Live Nativity set up (Dress warm!)

? - Live Nativity rehearsal

Monday, Dec 23:

Time TBA - Live Nativity Dress Rehearsal

7:30 pm - Live performance, What's Happening in the Barn?

The best way to confirm timings is to text Anita or Noelle, or email the church using the Contact Us page. 

Everyone welcome. Feel free to join us in whatever way you can. And please, share these events and invite someone. 

Men's Breakfast: Ritchie Hall

Unlike last year when horrid weather stopped Ritchie Hall from speaking at Church on the Hill's Men's Breakfast, nothing stopped the Grey Cup Champion from making an appearance this year, on Dec 7th, a mere week after the Saskatchewan Roughriders won Grey Cup 2013 right here in their home province. Go Riders!


Thank you to Nelson for emailing in the following photos of the Men's Breakfast...

Ritchie Hall speaking at COTH's Men's Breakfast, Dec 7, 2013

Some of the two dozen men who appreciated Ritchie Hall, Dec 7, 2013

The Grey Cup rings of Ritchie Hall

Thank you to Ritchie Hall for making the trip out to Glenavon on a cold, December day to share blessings, experiences and knowledge with the two dozen men and boys who took in this special event. 

And thank you to the men who shared their time and energy preparing the food to feed the guys who made time in their day to attend.

Rev. John Drisner Visits COTH

Sunday, November 17 was a special day as we enjoyed the visit of the Pentecostal Assembly of Canada Saskatchewan office (PAOC SK) Superintendent, Reverend John Drisner and his wife, Donna.

PAOC SK Superintendent Rev. John Drisner and wife, Donna

This was Rev Drisner's first visit to Church on the Hill (COTH) in Glenavon and he started his message by saying he had read of our origin and how Rose longed for a church after listening to Pastor John Harbarenko minister in his Sunday morning "Living Word Broadcast".  He also congratulated Pastor Lorne, a local farmer, for being a "pulpit minister" after only one year of Bible College. And he mentioned our reputation for being a church where several ministers have "cut their teeth" such as Jim Guskjolen who, along with his wife, Colleen, is the current Director of Missions to Latin America and the Caribbean.

For Rev Drisner's message, he pointed to our overhead screen where the New International Version (NIV) of his requested scripture was displayed, and explained that where the NIV uses the word "worshipped" in Acts 13:1-3, both the King James Version (KJV) and the American Standard Version (ASV) use the word "ministered"...

Acts 13:1-3 (ASV)  1 Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas, and Symeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

2 And as they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

He said the original Greek version used "serving" the Lord. 

Other scripture used was 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.

Rev Drisner's message was enlightening, although many of our members were unable to make it to church that day. I taped a good portion of his sermon, but he didn't use a microphone and it's hard to hear him at times when he speaks low for effect, or when he speaks while he's turned to one side, or while looking at the screen behind him.

That being said, I've turned a 4 1/2 minute portion of his message into a video to share with you. Although Rev Drisner's voice is low at the start of this video, it builds in volume and overall is very good, is as the message he is effectively imparting.

If the following video doesn't show on your browser, you can find it at http://youtu.be/QD3IG5KOrZg.

It's always a pleasure to receive guests at Church on the Hill, especially those who have traveled a fair distance to join us, such as Rev John and Donna Drisner of Saskatoon, Sask. Please pray for Rev Drisner as he ministers to the people of Saskatchewan through his job as Superintendent of PAOC SK.

Happy 45th Pastor Lorne & Dianne

Pastor Lorne and Dianne's 45th Anniversary Cake

A special treat was enjoyed after church on Nov 3rd when the congregation was invited downstairs for cake and coffee following the morning service.  

Pastor Lorne and Dianne cutting their cake on Nov 3, 2013

The celebration was in honor of Pastor Lorne and Dianne's 45th wedding anniversary. The room fell silent during the traditional cutting of the cake, and then cheers erupted afterwards. Congratulations!

Congratulations, Pastor Lorne and Dianne!

Praying for God's continued blessing on your marriage. 

Meet Michaela from Australia

Meet Michaela

On Nov 3 we had a special visitor when Pastor Lorne, Dianne, and Noelle came to church with Michaela Franklin, who'd traveled all the way up from Bellingen, Australia to spend some time with them.

Noelle had met Michaela when she'd gone down on one of the Street Invader trips and so impressed the girl that she came up to see for herself.

Michaela, it was sure nice meeting you, and we hope you enjoyed your visit to Saskatchewan.

New COTH Sign

Life's Scary, Jesus Calm our Fear

We have a new sign! Thanks to Pastor Lorne, Doug, and Blair and his boys, Joel, Noah, & Carson, for setting up the sign at the end of October.

Pastor Lorne put up the letters for the first announcement and then discovered he didn't have enough S's to add one to the end of the word, calm, and maybe even to the word, fear.

Bonnie, up in Swan river, thought the wind blew the word, scary, over to the right. Maybe even blew the comma away. It certainly is a lesson in punctuation.

It's a real good looking sign and we want to reassure everyone that although we may affectionately call it the Scary Jesus sign, we don't consider Jesus to be scary in the slightest. Quite the opposite in fact.

So if you drove by and saw this sign, we hope you focused on the YOU ARE WELCOME HERE part.

And thanks to JJ for this nicely composed picture as well as for promoting our church on Facebook.

2013 Graduate Photo

(L to R) Mitchell Dureault, Brooklin Dielschneider, Kate Wolstenholme, Nastassja Pinay, Nicholas Draper

We are proud of these young adults as they stand with the Bible and quilt each received/will receive as a gift from Church on the Hill. They will be in our prayers as they start the next phase of life's journey. 

2013 Graduation Service

On June 2 we'll celebrate the achievement of this year's high school graduates: 

                      Brooklin, Kate, Nick, and Nastassja

This is your chance to offer a memory of their Christian walk as well as pray over them as they advance to the next stage of their journey. 

A delicious Pot Blessing will follow the service.

You're welcome to check out the quilts in the foyer, one specially made for each graduate so they know they are loved and remembered in prayer every night and each morning. 

Mother's Day 2013

Hopefully this will work as I've been having technical difficulties blogging these past few months...

Last Sunday, the mother's of our congregation were treated to a scrumptious breakfast here at Church on the Hill in honor of Mother's Day. We'd been told it would be provided by the men. It was a delightful surprise then to find not only men, but the youth and Sunday School helping out as well. 

Kate, Joelle, and Peter in back, with Ireland in front.  COTH 2013

Trays of fresh fruit, baked ham, pancakes, and eggs.  COTH 2013

Oranges, watermelon, cantaloupe, and pineapples.  COTH 2013 

Mother's Day Buffet at COTH, May 12, 2013

Doug Pelletier, Pastor Lorne, Peter Brown and Joelle, COTH 2013

A big thank you going out to Peter Brown and his girls, Joelle and Ireland, as well as Kate Wolstenholme who were the yummy cooking crew. And thanks as well to Doug Pelletier and Pastor Lorne Bonk for helping out wherever needed. And they even cleaned up.

I tell you honestly, your serving spirit is appreciated.


When breakfast was over, the church enjoyed a couple specials for this Mother's Day occasion. The following videos are also available on the Church on the Hill YouTube channel.

First was Brooklin Deilschneider with the blessing of a poem and scripture reading. 





Then Noah Glover blessed us by playing As The Deer first alone, and then - for the first time - as an accompaniment to the congregation. I think one of the hardest things is to have the courage to play an instrument in public, and shortly on the heels of that is to play it well as others sing along.





Thank you Brooklin and Noah, and again to everyone else who made this day special.